The 2016 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Halloween Jack

lostcat wrote: »

Murray squeaks through in the first set against berdych...I have to hand it to him, he looks tired but he is really driven the past couple of months.

at this rate djokovic isn't even going to get out of his group at the tour finals, and murray will end up as year end no 1. He probably deserves it, though arguably djokovic had a better year overall.

As I said earlier, murray could easily be no 1 for at least the whole of next year, no one looks consistent enough to amass enough points to overtake him (assuming djokovic is pass caring, which seems to be the case)

In fairness, if they gave points for the Olympics like other years Murray would already be number 1, I think given their respective previous years, andys level has gone up, Novaks down, therefore Andy has had the better year

lostcat

Halloween Jack wrote: »

In fairness, if they gave points for the Olympics like other years Murray would already be number 1, I think given their respective previous years, andys level has gone up, Novaks down, therefore Andy has had the better year

don't agree, every year has to be taken on its own merits, the fact that djokovic was defending an ocean of points from last year is irrelevant to year end no 1

djokovic won 2 slams and 4 masters events this year
murray one 1 slam, the olympics and 2 masters

I don't really count anything below masters, but murray did won 3 or 4 500 series tournament. and the Olympics is kinda half way between a slam and a masters

if he wins paris and wins the tour finals, he has had a better year, if not, the two slams swing it djokovics way for me

Halloween Jack

lostcat wrote: »

don't agree, every year has to be taken on its own merits, the fact that djokovic was defending an ocean of points from last year is irrelevant to year end no 1

djokovic won 2 slams and 4 masters events this year
murray one 1 slam, the olympics and 2 masters

I don't really count anything below masters, but murray did won 3 or 4 500 series tournament. and the Olympics is kinda half way between a slam and a masters

if he wins paris and wins the tour finals, he has had a better year, if not, the two slams swing it djokovics way for me

its been 2 years really, Djokovic owned the first half, Murray the second but given their prior levels I think Murray's achievements are more impressive, particularly if he ends as year end no. 1

Jan_de_Bakker

Im not the biggest fan of Murray, but he deserves to be #1 , making some amazing shots and just playing the best tennis right now.

As for Djokovic , has he just lost motivation after winning that elusive French Open ?

Can't see him back to be honest, unless he gets motivated to catch Nadal's record - not at this rate though.

Jan_de_Bakker

Official now, Raonic withdraws ..

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/37882467

RosyLily

Delighted for Murray! He's had a great 2016, particularly since Wimbledon. I think he's had a better season than Djokovic, who seemed to check out after winning RG. 2 new World #1s this year. Didn't think that would happen this time last year!

The Tour Finals line-up is confirmed. Singles players: Murray, Djokovic, Wawrinka, Raonic, Nishikori, Monfils, Cilic, Thiem. With Raonic injured, Berdych could make it as he's just outside qualifying.

On the doubles side: Herbert/Mahut, Murray/Soares, Bryan Brothers, Lopez/Lopez, Dodig/Melo, Klaasen/Ram, Kontinen/Peers, Huey/Mirnyi.

well done to Murray.
He may get a good run on world no.1 now with his comparatively weak results in the first half of last year meaning that his ranking points were low.
No Fed or Nadal in the tour finals - how long since that has been the case?
Murray should win the tour finals on current form unless Djokovic improves.
Could even go through the thing undefeated to get the win bonus.

Halloween Jack

Richly deserved for Andy. If djokovic's slump continues I could easily see Murray winning another 2-4 slams in the next couple of years, particularly if he can be seeded 1 for a few. the year he's had will hopefully remove any of the remaining doubts and mental fragilities he's had and free him up a little.

Like him or not I think it's hard to argue that he deserves anything other than a lot of respect for the dogged perseverance and sheer bloody mindedness he's displayed in chasing the 3 guys that were above him so long, knowing for a long while that his best probably wasn't quite good enough. I hope it's his time now, and he can be the man for a year or two, would be a nice end to the journey for him and his fans like me who've been through all the ups and downs with him.

walshb

Into a final set now...

icing on the cake for Murray to take the title. would have been a bit of a downer to get to No.1 and then lose the final.
on to London.

Halloween Jack

glasso wrote: »

icing on the cake for Murray to take the title. would have been a bit of a downer to get to No.1 and then lose the final.
on to London.

He's won 7/9 ot the masters series now, Djokovic has 8, nobody has won all 9, needs Indian wells and Monte Carlo for the set...

lostcat

glasso wrote: »

icing on the cake for Murray to take the title. would have been a bit of a downer to get to No.1 and then lose the final.
on to London.

a slight bit of a downer for him may be that I imagine he was dying to have a crack off Djokovic sometime in the past two weeks, he would almost certainly have beaten him and it would have made reaching no 1 all the more satisfying.

he might get a chance at the WTF, though they will be in different groups and djokovic may well not even get out of his.

lostcat

Jan_de_Bakker wrote: »

Im not the biggest fan of Murray, but he deserves to be #1 , making some amazing shots and just playing the best tennis right now.

As for Djokovic , has he just lost motivation after winning that elusive French Open ?

Can't see him back to be honest, unless he gets motivated to catch Nadal's record - not at this rate though.

well, his serve has gone to pot, which points towards some sort of injury maybe

but mainly it seem to be some kind of a mental problem, he is obviously going though some stuff off court (he isn't wearing that huge wooden cross lately, he seems to have has replaced Becker in his box with a snake oil salesman, he doesn't have the same focus on court, etc.)

hard to know what sort of player will turn up next year, would be a pity for him if he didn't make the 14 slams to tie Nadal/Sampras as that's the kind of company he deserves in the record books, but hey, maybe he is happy enough, and why shouldn't he be?

lostcat

lostcat wrote: »

he seems to have has replaced Becker in his box with a snake oil salesman

who is that?

lostcat

glasso wrote: »

who is that?

His name is Pepe Imaz

his speciality is long hugs and spreading the love

just what a top player in a ruthless and unforgiving sport needs in his box (can you imagine if Lendl gave murray a hug? someones head would explode)

maybe he has something to do that all that 'love to the crowd' stuff djokovic has been at lately?


In any case, trucking around with such advisors speaks of some kind of existential crises or other

Djokovic was, of course, much better when the crowd didn't like him much and he was basically in 'f*&$ you all' mode.

Jan_de_Bakker

I think he could have a great 2 years, he might even win 3 slams in '17...

yerwanthere123

Jan_de_Bakker wrote: »

I think he could have a great 2 years, he might even win 3 slams in '17...

Woah there! Let's wait and see how Djokovic is when he returns in the new year, I fully expect he'll be back with a vengeance.

walshb

I personally think Andy's rise to number 1 is his greatest achievement.

I'd love to see him win the AO. I think he's lost 5 AO finals? I reckon it's the one he wants most now.

RosyLily

Draw has been made for the Tour Finals. Murray, Wawrinka, Cilic and Nishikori are in the McEnroe Group. Djokovic, Thiem, Monfils and Raonic make up the Lendl Group. Read on Twitter that Djokovic has perfect records against his group opponents....wonder if that'll still be the case afterwards.

In the doubles tournament, Herbert/Mahut, Lopez/Lopez, Kontinen/Peers and Klaasen/Ram are in McEnroe/Fleming. Edberg/Jarryd Group is Murray/Soares, Bryan/Bryan, Dodig/Melo, Huey/Mirnyi.

Schedule for Sunday has been released.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Bryan/Bryan v Dodig/Melo
Djokovic v Thiem

SUNDAY NIGHT

Murray/Soares v Huey/Mirnyi
Raonic v Monfils

John McEnroe Group Ivan Lendl Group
1. Andy Murray (GB) 2. Novak Djokovic (Ser)
3. Stan Wawrinka (Swi) 4. Milos Raonic (Can)
5. Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 6. Gael Monfils (Fra)
7. Marin Cilic (Cro) 8. Dominic Thiem (Aut)

Tougher group for Murray. He has lost to all 3 of these guys in the last year or so.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

walshb wrote: »

I personally think Andy's rise to number 1 is his greatest achievement.

Given that up to maybe 2 years ago it was hard to imagine anyone but Roger or Rafa being number one and then Djokovic comes along and takes over in such emphatic style, I'd agree.

Jan_de_Bakker

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Woah there! Let's wait and see how Djokovic is when he returns in the new year, I fully expect he'll be back with a vengeance.

If he's motivated he of course will be, I don't think he is arsed though, especially since he has gone all David Brent (being popular seems to be more important then winning atm) - I mean this new clown he has in his box ??

jaysus ...

For now can't see anyone threaten Murray, maybe in 2018 one of the new lads will finally raise his game..

read somewhere that if Djokovic wins the ATP finals undefeated (wins all group matches) he regains world no.1 - is that the case?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

glasso wrote: »

read somewhere that if Djokovic wins the ATP finals undefeated (wins all group matches) he regains world no.1 - is that the case?

Not sure but if I remember last year Murray only won one match whereas Djokovic won the whole thing only losing one group match, so he can't really gain that many points. There's only about 400 points between them so I think a lot would depend on what Murray does too.

That said it can be a very confusing system at times so who knows.

Halloween Jack

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Not sure but if I remember last year Murray only won one match whereas Djokovic won the whole thing only losing one group match, so he can't really gain that many points. There's only about 400 points between them so I think a lot would depend on what Murray does too.

That said it can be a very confusing system at times so who knows.

The points from last year have been removed, Murray has a 400 point lead or so but loses 250ish from Davis cup, so whoever does better in London is year end no. 1

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Halloween Jack wrote: »

The points from last year have been removed, Murray has a 400 point lead or so but loses 250ish from Davis cup, so whoever does better in London is year end no. 1

I forgot about Davis Cup.

lostcat

glasso wrote: »

John McEnroe Group Ivan Lendl Group
1. Andy Murray (GB) 2. Novak Djokovic (Ser)
3. Stan Wawrinka (Swi) 4. Milos Raonic (Can)
5. Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 6. Gael Monfils (Fra)
7. Marin Cilic (Cro) 8. Dominic Thiem (Aut)

Tougher group for Murray. He has lost to all 3 of these guys in the last year or so.

Funny, I always get the feeling that the current no 1 gets the totally worst group in this thing most years.

I'm looking forward to it, its the first tournament in what seems like ages that has a proper 'top tier' feel to it. then again, last years wasn't too great as most players seemed gassed and generally uninterested....

lostcat

Jan_de_Bakker wrote: »

If he's motivated he of course will be, I don't think he is arsed though, especially since he has gone all David Brent (being popular seems to be more important then winning atm) - I mean this new clown he has in his box ??

jaysus ...

For now can't see anyone threaten Murray, maybe in 2018 one of the new lads will finally raise his game..

It will depend partly on how Murray feels being the hunted rather than the hunter, keeping hold of no 1 doesn't seem to suit everyone.

no one else seems particularly interested in putting together a consistent season. I had high hopes for Thiem, but he is a couple of years away from being a consistent threat, and the rest of the younger brigade seem even further back. looks like a year or two of churn in the rankings behind the top two is ahead, Murray could certainly make hay.

Then again, 6 months ago djokovic was going to win 25 slams....

Jan_de_Bakker

Someone said to me that a new list of banned substances was added to the doping list - including some that Djokovic used to be on (when legal - Im not suggesting he was illegally doping here).

Hence his fall, interesting ....

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Jan_de_Bakker wrote: »

Someone said to me that a new list of banned substances was added to the doping list - including some that Djokovic used to be on (when legal - Im not suggesting he was illegally doping here).

Hence his fall, interesting ....

Substances are added to the list at the start of the year. Unless what he was using kept having a massive effect for 6 months after he took it that seems unlikely.